As the Philadelphia Eagles played the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LII on Sunday, television screens around the nation briefly went dark. If you're like me, you may have assumed the blackout was due to someone at your Super Bowl party sitting on the remote, but you actually don't have to blame your party guests for this one. There was a nationwide blackout that lasted for several seconds during Super Bowl LII, and although we don't know too much about it, Twitter was ready with memes and jokes, and some of the best reactions to the TV screen blackout during the 2018 Super Bowl racked up hundreds of likes and retweets in minutes.
NBC Sports said it was a brief equipment failure and that we didn't miss any commercials or parts of the game during the blackout, but the technical glitch did about the length of a commercial. Some people speculated that NBC had technical difficulties while trying to broadcast an advertisement and would lose a ton of money due to the mistake, even though that ended up not being true. But things could be much worse: During the 2013 Super Bowl, the power went out unexpectedly, and the game was stopped for 34 minutes. Thankfully, this blackout didn't bring any real consequences aside from hilarious memes and speculation. These are some of the best reactions to the screen blackout so far.
1Was It Just Me?
I didn't realize the blackout was nationwide until I checked Twitter. I blamed my sometimes spotty television service, and it seems I wasn't alone in wondering why my TV wasn't cooperating.
2Who Did It?
Even though NBC is blaming an equipment failure for the blackout, some of us are still nervous for any employees who may be blamed for the error.
3Calling All Advertisers
The Internet has a short attention span, so it's a logical move to think the hype around the blackout probably won't last long. Ad Age wondered which brands would be first to capitalize off the moment — advertisers had to act fast if they wanted to make jokes.
4Tide's On It!
Thankfully, Tide was up to the challenge. Within four minutes of the blackout, they quickly tweeted out a laundry-related blackout joke. Pretty impressive, especially because they were one of the first brands to do so.
5What Blackout?
One way to cope with the blackout is just to pretend like nothing happened. I already use this strategy whenever I do something embarrassing, and it seems like it works here. If I were responsible for the blackout, I'd definitely use this move.
6It All Makes Sense Now
Eating Tide Pods is a very dangerous and bad idea, so some people wondered if the blackout was a strategic public service announcement. Of course, it would've been an incredibly abstract one, but when we were pondering the meaning of the blackout, nothing made sense.
7WHY?
Doritos is another brand that took advantage of the blackout, using it as another opportunity to advertise Doritos Blaze, which already had its own Super Bowl commercial. I have to commend advertisers for moving so quickly.
8Oh, Janet
Janet Jackson's fans tried to get #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay trending on Sunday because they think she's being unfairly blamed for the wardrobe malfunction that happened during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Who could blame her for trying to throw a bit of shade?
9Remember?
I loved Justin Timberlake's performance, but no one will ever compare to Beyonce's Super Bowl 50 performance. I was sick in bed with the stomach flu during her performance two years ago, but I literally made myself sit up to appreciate the black excellence that was happening on television.
15But Some People Actually Loved It
For some, the brief blackout was the best part of the night.
The blackout was mostly a minor inconvenience, but it brought us good tweets, and for that, I'm very thankful.
